ARRL DX Contest, CW - 2021
Call: W6YX
Operator(s): W6LD N7MH
Station: W6YX
Class: M/S HP
QTH: Stanford
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 40 14
80: 234 35
40: 844 77
20: 839 96
15: 393 60
10: 33 14
-------------------
Total: 2383 296 Total Score = 2,116,104
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
After a M/2 effort last year with WD6T, mostly using a SO2R position with a
single op at a time, John, W6LD, and I decided to use two separate operating
positions as a M/S to keep socially distanced. My operating position consisted
of 2 K3s, Alpha 9500 and Alpha 86. John's was a K3 and Alpha 87A. Our K3s all
have the K3S upgrades.
There were about 12 hours when both of us were at the station together, one
being the main operator and the other mostly searching for mults to use up our
10 hourly band changes (we never got close to 10). When I operated I used my 2nd
radio to either work mults on other bands or do in-band click-and-pounce while
CQing on the other radio.
With N6TV's help we had set up a skimmer on our site just over a week earlier
which is also supplying spots to RBN. We were curious to see how immune it is to
high-power signals a few hundred feet away.
I had my logging instance set up to get RBN spots from all of K and VE and also
had an instance on an adjacent monitor that showed all of the unworked mults
being reported by the raw feed from our local skimmer. Most of these spots were
for miscopied variants of W6YX on spurs or harmonics that mostly get filtered
out by RBN - A6YX, AT6YX, etc.
While John was operating just after 2 AM local time I got excited when I saw
that our skimmer was showing spots for several JA stations on 10 meters. Nothing
was heard on 10 so it was a mystery until later I noticed that a callsign I had
just worked on 80 appeared on the skimmer on 10. Mystery solved!
Compared to last year our European numbers are way down, 418 vs. 1059 last year.
The low bands were really dismal with only 8 EU on 80. I caught a weak EU
opening on Saturday evening on 40 that was skew path toward South America and
picked up some mults but only about a quarter of the spotted EU stations could
be heard on that path. John was able to run EU after 0800Z on 40 and there were
strong long path openings both mornings, but most EU were on the higher bands by
then so rates weren't great.
20 meters to Europe was good on Saturday morning but we left to take advantage
of a weak opening on 15 and didn't get back to 20 until late in the opening when
signals were weak and running was not effective. Sunday conditions on 20 were
not as good and deteriorated earlier. No EU heard on 15 on Sunday, not even the
LA/OH/SM/UA1 callsigns we saw spotted from W7-land.
The lack of EU was made up for by a greater number of Asian stations. Why can't
we get both in the same year?
With 9 hours to go a stuck relay developed on the Alpha 9500. The K3 seems
implicated but waiting for Pete, K6TJ, to give his assessment. With two other
radios and amps it wasn't a huge loss but kind of demotivated me for a while.
The power supply for John's K3 gave out with a loud pop a couple hours before
the end. He found a spare in the shack and was quickly back on the air.
Thanks for the Qs.
73,
-Mike, N7MH
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|